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ENVIRONMENT
PrintIT Reseller (PITR):
Mark, please
could you tell us a little bit about
CO2balance?
Mark Simpson:
CO2balance is an
internationally recognised carbon
offsetting, carbon management and carbon
reduction company. We were founded
in 2003, originally doing domestic,
UK-based offsets, which is how we met
Toshiba. Then, throughout the 2000s we
expanded into Africa. We now operate in
11 countries, doing a variety of projects,
all to internationally recognised standards,
ranging from VCS gold standard to CBM
(Clean Development Mechanism) credits.
PITR:
And how did you get involved
with Toshiba TEC?
Paul Chipling
: When we were doing UK
woodland projects, a client purchased a
gift tree as part of a Christmas present
for Toshiba. That planted a seed in the
minds of the Toshiba marketing team.
They realised that carbon reduction and
offsetting was an effective way to brand
Toshiba as a green company, to do
something good for the environment, and
to reach out and show people how green
marketing can work for a business.
PITR:
Jeremy, please you can tell us
a little more about Toshiba’s Carbon
Zero Scheme?
Jeremy Spencer:
The Carbon Zero
scheme was introduced in 2009 and we’ve
been working with CO2balance ever since.
We measure the carbon impact of our
products, from materials procurement to
construction and delivery, and purchase
credits to the same level. We put these into
a variety of CO2balance projects, so when
our products are delivered to customers,
they are carbon neutral.
PITR:
Paul, please could you explain a
bit more about some of the projects
CO2balance is involved with.
Paul Chipling:
The project that’s been
supported the most, right from the
very start, is the Kenyan cooking stoves
programme. In Africa, people cook
using three-stone fires – basically three
stones with a pot on top and firewood
underneath. The thermal efficiency of this
arrangement is very, very poor. There is a
lot of wasted heat and significant use of
wood, contributing to deforestation, and
it’s very smokey.
We’ve developed a fuel-efficient stove,
which we make in a factory in Mombasa
and distribute free to families. This halves
the amount of firewood needed to cook
Last December,
PrintIT Reseller
participated in a roundtable discussion on carbon
offsetting with Jeremy Spencer, marketing director of Toshiba TEC UK, Mark
Simpson, managing director of CO2balance, and Paul Chipling, CO2balance’s
director of sales and marketing. Here we present edited highlights. A video
recording of the discussion can be seen on the
PrintIT Reseller
website.
Virtuous circle
and the amount of carbon emitted – on
average, each stove saves 3 tons of
carbon a year. You get the environmental
benefits of reduced carbon emissions,
less deforestation and improved habitat
protection, and it is a quicker, easier and
cleaner way to cook, so there is a huge
impact on the lifestyle of people in Kenya.
The second most popular initiative is
the borehole project in Uganda, through
which we find and fix broken boreholes.
This provides millions of gallons of clean
water to families in Uganda within 20 or
40 metres of where they live. Families and
children don’t have to walk 3-4 kilometres
and carry back bucketfuls of water. Nor do
they have to boil water to clean it. So there
is an important carbon saving, as well as
improved quality of life.
PITR:
Your projects all seem to
combine the environmental benefit
of carbon reduction with a variety of
social benefits.
Jeremy Spencer:
Absolutely – and
we give our customers the opportunity
to expand those even further through
bespoke projects. With the stoves, there
is a health benefit because they burn
a lot cleaner. And because they are
more efficient, children, who are often
responsible for collecting firewood, don’t
need to gather so much, giving them more
time for education. Because schools in
Kenya educate as many children as they
can accommodate, one of the projects we
have for our customers is the construction
of big kitchens that can house industrial
stoves. These enable schools to cook more
meals, which means that they can educate
more children.
We give our
customers the
opportunity
to expand
the social
benefits
of projects
through
bespoke
programmes
